Ultimate Guide to Using Mailchimp and WordPress (2021)

Are you looking for a guide to using Mailchimp with WordPress?

Mailchimp is one of the most popular email marketing services, and it can be easily used with your WordPress website.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to easily integrate Mailchimp in WordPress and start building your email list.

Following is a quick overview of the topics we’ll cover in this guide.

• Why Build an Email List?
• Why Use Mailchimp with Your WordPress Site?
• Getting Started with Mailchimp
• Adding Mailchimp Email Signup Forms in WordPress
• Adding Beautiful Signup Forms Using OptinMonster
• Creating Custom Mailchimp Signup Form with WPForms
• Automate Anything in WordPress and Mailchimp
• Bonus: Tips to Grow Your Mailchimp Email List Fast

Why Build an Email List?

More than 70% of users who abandon your website will probably never come back, unless you successfully get them to subscribe to your email list.

Email is private, personal, and by far the most direct form of communication on the internet. Many people check their inbox more than their social media feed.

Plus, an email will stay in the inbox unless a user takes action on it. On social media, your message will soon get buried in an endless timeline.

For more details on how email marketing can grow your business, see our guide on why you should start building your email list right away.

Why Use Mailchimp with Your WordPress Site?

Mailchimp is one of the most popular email marketing services. Why? Because they offer a free forever plan where you can send up to 10,000 emails per month to no more than 2000 subscribers.

Now as your subscribers grow to more than 2000 or you need to send more emails, then you’ll need a paid plan which can get quite expensive.

Apart from email marketing, Mailchimp also offers basic automation tools that come in handy in growing your business online.

However, Mailchimp is far from perfect. They are no longer the easiest or the most cost-effective email marketing service on the market.

Some Mailchimp alternatives like Constant Contact, Drip, and HubSpot offer more advanced marketing automation tools that are easier to use.

Other companies like Sendinblue and ConvertKit also offer a forever-free plan.

That being said, let’s see how to use Mailchimp with WordPress to grow your business and start building your email list.

Getting Started with Mailchimp

To connect Mailchimp to your WordPress site, the first thing you will need is a Mailchimp account.

To get started, visit the Mailchimp website and click on the ‘Sign Up Free’ button at the top right.

Simply fill in your email and create a username and password for your account, and continue following the on-screen instructions to finish the account set up.

Once you have created your account, you’ll reach your Mailchimp dashboard which looks like this:

Adding Mailchimp Email Signup Forms in WordPress

Mailchimp comes with built-in subscription forms that you can embed on your WordPress website.

Simply click on the create button from the toolbar on the left and then select the Signup Form » Embedded Form option.

This will bring you to the form configuration page.

From here, you can choose which form fields to display, and select other options for your sign up form.

Once you are satisfied with the form, you need to copy the embed code shown on the screen.

Next, you need to switch to the admin area of your WordPress website and go to the Appearance » Widgets page. From here you need to add the Custom HTML widget block to your widget area.

Inside the widget settings, you need to paste the code you copied from Mailchimp website.

Don’t forget to click on the Update button to save your widget settings.

You can now visit your website to see your Mailchimp signup form in action.

You can also add the embed code to posts or pages using the HTML block. See our guide on how to edit HTML in WordPress for more details.

Adding Beautiful Signup Forms Using OptinMonster

Mailchimp allows you to create basic email sign up forms. However, these forms are hard to customize and don’t come with many targeting and personalization options.

This is where OptinMonster comes in. It is the best conversion optimization software on the market and helps you easily convert website visitors into subscribers.

OptinMonster integrates with your Mailchimp account and comes with dozens of beautiful templates and a powerful campaign builder.

Plus, it has incredible targeting and display rules which allow you to display your signup forms at the right time. For instance, you can show a popup to users who are about to leave your site, or show a different campaign to users in specific regions, and more.

First, you need to sign up for an OptinMonster account.

After that, you need to install and activate the OptinMonster plugin on your WordPress website. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

This plugin acts as a connector between WordPress and your OptinMonster account.

Upon activation, you need to visit the OptinMonster » Settings page. From here, simply click on the ‘Connect on existing account’ button to integrate OptinMonster to your website.

Now you are ready to create your first Mailchimp newsletter signup form.

To get started, go to the OptinMonster » Campaigns page and click on the Add New button at the top.

Next, you need to choose a campaign type.

OptinMonster allows you to create several types of campaigns including lightbox popups, floating bars, inline campaigns, slide-in, fullscreen, and gamified spin-a-wheel popups.

Below that, you need to choose a template for your campaign. There are several beautiful designs to choose from, and you can modify them as much as you like.

After choosing the template, you’ll need to enter a name for your campaign and launch the campaign builder.

OptinMonster has an intuitive drag and drop interface where you can simply point and click to edit any item. You can also add new design elements called blocks to add your own images, text, buttons, and more.

Once you are satisfied with the campaign design, you need to connect it to your Mailchimp account. Simply switch to the Integrations tab and click on the Add New Integration button.

Next, you need to choose Mailchimp as your email service provider and give this connection a name.

After that, you need to enter your Mailchimp API key.

You can generate or locate your Mailchimp API key under your account on Mailchimp website.

From your Mailchimp dashboard, simply click on your profile icon on the bottom left of the screen. Then click on Extras » API keys from the top menu.

After entering your API keys in the OptinMonster builder, click on the ‘Connect to Mailchimp’ button.

Next, you need to select your Mailchimp account and your email list.

You can now save and publish your OptinMonster campaign and close the form builder.

This will bring you to the campaign output page on your WordPress website. From here you need to choose where you want to display the campaign and publish it.

You can now visit your website to see your email newsletter form in action.

Creating a Custom Mailchimp Signup Form with WPForms

WPForms is the best WordPress form builder plugin on the market. It allows you to easily create any type of form, including newsletter sign up forms.

WPForms also integrates with your Mailchimp account so that you can save your form entries to your email list.

First, you need to install and activate the WPForms plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit the WPForms » Settings page to enter your license key. You can find it under your account on the WPForms website.

Next, you need to visit the WPForms » Addons page and install the Mailchimp addon.

Now you are ready to create your first newsletter signup form.

Simply head over to WPForms » Add New page and enter a title for your form, and then choose the Newsletter signup form template.

This will launch the form builder with all the required fields for your email list sign up form.

You can edit or remove the fields from the form by simply clicking on them.

Once you are satisfied with the form, you need to switch to the marketing tab and click on the Mailchimp section.

From here you need to click on the Add New Connection button.

Next, you’ll be asked to name the connection and enter your Mailchimp account API key.

You can find the API key under your account on the Mailchimp website.

Next, you need to choose your Mailchimp account and audience and then choose which form field corresponds to the email field.

You can now save your form settings and and exit the form builder.

WPForms makes it very easy to add your form anywhere on your website.

If you want to display the form in your site’s sidebar, then you can go to the Appearance » Widgets page and add the WPForms widget block to your sidebar or any widget area.

Don’t forget to click on the Update button to save your widget settings.

Similarly, if you wanted to add the newsletter sign up form to a post or page, then you can edit the post or page and add the WPForms block.

Don’t forget to publish or save changes to update your post or page.

You can now visit your website to see your Mailchimp custom newsletter sign up form in action.

Automate Anything in WordPress and Mailchimp

Email is extremely powerful, especially when it is personalized and timely. With the right tools, you can easily create high-converting email automations that are targeted to each subscriber.

For instance, you could send an automatic email to showcase products similar to what your customer has already bought, or automatically send users an email when you publish a new article on your website.

This is where you need Uncanny Automator. It is the best WordPress automation plugin that allows you to create automated workflows for your WordPress site.

Uncanny Automator works with all top WordPress plugins, eCommerce platforms, membership plugins, and 3000+ apps through Zapier. It also connects with Mailchimp, which means you can create smarter email campaigns with just a few clicks.

First thing you need to do is install and activate the Uncanny Automator plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit Automator » Add New page to create your first recipe. You’ll be asked to select which type of recipe you want to create.

For the sake of this tutorial, we’ll send an automated email to subscribers whenever we publish a new post. To get started, select logged-in users.

Next, you need to choose WordPress as your integration triggering the action.

For the trigger, you can choose when a user publishes a post.

Next comes the action part, where you choose what action will be triggered.

Simply click on the Mailchimp icon to connect it to your website.

This will bring up a popup where you need to follow the on-screen instructions to finish the connection.

Once connected, you will be able to choose what action you want to perform on your Mailchimp account.

For instance, here we have set it up to send a new email to our audience with the blog post title and a custom message.

Once you are finished, you can switch the recipe from Draft to Live.

From now on, when you publish a new article on your website, Mailchimp will automatically send an email to your subscribers.

Uncanny Automator is a powerful tool to connect Mailchimp and WordPress so you can automate your marketing and boost sales and conversions.

Bonus: Tips to Grow Your Mailchimp Email List Fast

If you’re not promoting your email list to your website visitors, then you are losing potential subscribers, customers, and sales.

Following are some of the best proven tips that will help you grow your Mailchimp newsletter faster.

1. Multiple Sign up Forms

Don’t just add one sign up form in the sidebar. Instead, give your users plenty of opportunities to sign up with multiple email subscription forms.

2. Use Gamification to Win Subscribers

Gamification brings fun interaction to your email forms. People are more likely to enter their email address if they have a chance to win something in exchange.

See our tutorial on how to add spin to win popups in WordPress.

3. Create Lead Magnets

Lead magnets are incentives that you can offer to your users in exchange for signing up to your email list. For instance, you can send them an ebook, a sample chapter, a discount code, and more.

Learn more in our tutorial on how to require an email address to download a file in WordPress.

4. Use Targeted Campaigns and Personalization

Your email signup forms will get more subscribers if they display at the right time to the right users.

For instance, you can show a welcome message to visitors from social media, or display a discount offer to shoppers who are about to abandon their carts.

For detailed instructions, see our guide on how to show personalized content to users in WordPress.

5. Track Your Conversions

Want to know which forms bring you more subscribers? For that, you’ll need MonsterInsights, which is the best Google Analytics plugin on the market.

MonsterInsights helps you understand which forms are more effective in growing your email list. For more details, see our complete guide on how to track conversions in WordPress like a pro.

For more on this topic, see our guide on how to grow your email list quickly with more actionable tips.

We hope this article helped you learn how to use Mailchimp with WordPress to build your email list. You may also want to see our guide on best SMTP services to securely send WordPress emails with higher deliverability, and our expert pick of the best business phone services for small business.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post Ultimate Guide to Using Mailchimp and WordPress (2021) appeared first on WPBeginner.

September 02, 2021 at 03:30PM

How to Easily Optimize WordPress CSS Delivery (2 Methods)

Would you like to optimize your WordPress CSS delivery?

CSS files control the visual formatting and style of your WordPress website. But if your CSS code isn’t delivered in an optimal way, then it could be slowing down your website.

In this article, we’ll show you two easy methods to optimize your WordPress CSS delivery.

How WordPress CSS Delivery Affects WordPress Performance

CSS files are used to define the visual appearance of your WordPress site. Your WordPress theme contains a CSS stylesheet file, and some of your plugins may also use CSS stylesheets.

CSS is necessary for modern websites, but it’s possible for CSS files to slow down your site’s speed and performance depending on how they’re set up.

Even a small delay in site speed creates a bad user experience and may affect your search rankings and conversions, resulting in less traffic and sales.

One way that CSS files can slow your website is if they need to be loaded before the page can be displayed. That means your visitors will see a blank page until the CSS file has loaded. This is known as render-blocking CSS.

Another common reason CSS files can slow your website is when they contain more code than is needed to display the visible part of the current page. That extra code means that they will take longer to load.

The good news is, you can improve your WordPress site’s performance by optimizing the way the CSS code is delivered.

That’s done by identifying the minimum CSS code needed to display the first part of the current web page. This is known as critical CSS.

This critical code is then added inline to the page’s HTML, instead of in separate stylesheets, so that the code can be rendered without needing to load the CSS file first.

The rest of the CSS can then be loaded after your visitors can see the contents of the page. This is known as ‘deferred loading’.

In this tutorial, we’ll show you two methods to optimize WordPress CSS delivery, and you can choose the one that works best for you.

• Method 1: Optimizing WordPress CSS Delivery with WP Rocket
• Method 2: Optimizing WordPress CSS Delivery with Autoptimize

Method 1: Optimizing WordPress CSS Delivery with WP Rocket

WP Rocket is the best WordPress caching plugin in the market. It offers the simplest way to optimize your WordPress CSS delivery. In fact, it’s as easy as checking a box.

WP Rocket is a premium plugin, but the best part is that all features are included in their lowest plan.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the WP Rocket plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Once activated, you need to navigate to the Settings » WP Rocket page and switch to the ‘File Optimization’ tab.

Next, you need to scroll down to the CSS files section. Once there, you need to check the box next to the ‘Optimize CSS delivery’ option.

This feature will intelligently identify the critical CSS needed to format the part of the web page your visitors see first. Your pages will load more quickly, and the rest of the CSS will be loaded after your visitors can see its contents.

All you need to do now is click the Save Changes button and wait for WP Rocket to generate the necessary CSS file for all your posts and pages.

It will also automatically clear the cache for your website, so that your visitors will see the new optimized version of your site instead of the any unoptimized versions stored in cache.

There are plenty of other ways that WP Rocket can help you improve your website’s performance. To learn more, see our guide on how to properly install and setup WP Rocket in WordPress.

Method 2: Optimizing WordPress CSS Delivery with Autoptimize

Autoptimize is a free plugin designed to improve the delivery of your website’s CSS and JS files.

While Autoptimize is a free plugin, it doesn’t have as many features as WP Rocket and takes more time to set up.

For example, it’s not able to automatically identify critical CSS like WP Rocket can. Instead, Autoptimize requires the help of a premium third-party service which is an additional cost and requires extra time to configure.

However, it could be a good option if you’re on a tight budget and don’t need all the other features of WP Rocket to speed up your site.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the Autoptimize plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit the Settings » Autoptimize page to configure the plugin settings. Once there, you need to scroll down to the CSS Options section and check the Optimize CSS Code box at the top.

Once you do that you need to make sure that ‘Aggregate CSS-files’ option is unchecked and then check ‘Eliminate render-blocking CSS’.

You can now click on the ‘Save Changes and Empty Cache’ button to store your settings.

But the plugin will not work properly until you sign up for a Critical CSS account. This is a premium subscription service that will provide Autoptimize the critical CSS code it needs to optimize your WordPress CSS delivery.

To do that, navigate to the Critical CSS tab in Autoptimize’s settings. Here you’ll find the information you need to sign up with Critical CSS. You can get started by clicking the sign up link in the third paragraph.

Once you’ve received your Critical CSS API key, scroll down to the API Key section so you can paste it into the ‘Your API key’ text box. After that, make sure you click the Save Changes button.

Autoptimize now has all of the information it needs to add the critical CSS inline and defer loading the stylesheets until after the page has been rendered. As a result, your website will load more quickly.

We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to optimize WordPress CSS delivery.

You may also want to see our ultimate guide on how much it really costs to build a WordPress website, and our comparison of the best managed WordPress hosting companies.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Easily Optimize WordPress CSS Delivery (2 Methods) appeared first on WPBeginner.

September 01, 2021 at 03:36PM

How to Add Content Locking in WordPress (2 Methods)

Do you want to add content locking to your WordPress site?

Many websites use content locking to boost their lead generation, increase sales, or build their email list.

In this article, we will show you how to add content locking in WordPress without annoying users.

What is Content Locking & When Do You Need It?

Content locking is a technique used by site owners to encourage their users to take action. That action might be anything from signing up for an email newsletter to paying for premium content.

Content locking works similarly to content upgrades. When you offer valuable content on your WordPress website such as a course or ebook download, you give your visitors a reason to take initiative and sign up for a membership.

Doing this effectively can help you generate leads, build an email list, and grow your business. But if you don’t set up content locking in the best way, then visitors to your site may find it annoying.

That being said, let’s see how you can easily add content locking in WordPress the right way. Method 1 is best for exclusive free content, and Method 2 for premium paid content.

• Method 1: Add Content Locking with OptinMonster
• Method 2: Add Content Locking with MemberPress

Method 1: Add Content Locking with OptinMonster

OptinMonster is the best email capture tool on the market. It’s the best choice when you want to use exclusive content to grow your email list.

You will need a Plus or higher plan for content locking. WPBeginner users can get a 10% discount by using this OptinMonster coupon.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the OptinMonster plugin. For more details, see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you’ll need to connect your site to your OptinMonster account. You can do that by clicking on the OptinMonster menu item in your WordPress admin bar and then clicking the Connect Your Site button.

Once you’ve done that, you’ll then need to log into your OptinMonster account or create a new one.

After you are successfully connected, you should navigate to the OptinMonster » Campaigns page in your WordPress dashboard. Since you haven’t yet created a campaign, you’ll be asked to create a new one.

When you click the ‘Create Your First Campaign’ button, you’ll be taken to the OptinMonster website and asked to select a campaign type.

To add content locking, you’ll need to select the Inline option.

You’ll then need to scroll down and choose a template. OptinMonster offers 65+ templates, and they all work great across any device.

You can view each template by clicking on the Preview button. When you find one that matches your needs, you’ll need to click the Use Template button.

We’ll go with the Action template because it points our readers’ attention to a single call to action.

You’ll then be asked to provide a title for your campaign.

Once you’ve typed it in, simply click the Start Building button.

This will open the OptinMonster editor. Here you can spend time perfecting the content and appearance of the popup.

You can click on any section to change the wording, edit fonts, add images, change colors, and more. You can also customize the Success message that’s displayed to your users after they sign up.

Once you’re happy with the way your popup looks, we need to activate content locking.

To do that, you need to click on the Inline Settings tab. You can then turn on content locking by clicking on the ‘Lock Content Below Campaign’ on/off switch.

While you’re there, you should choose whether your locked content will be blurred or just not displayed. You can make your selection from the Content Locking Style dropdown menu.

The next step is to connect your email marketing service. The good news is that OptinMonster supports many popular providers.

You’ll need to click on the ‘Add New Integration’ button. You should find your email service in the drop down menu.

After that, you need to make the campaign active. Simply click on the Published tab at the top of the screen and then click on the Publish button.

Then you can save your campaign by clicking the Save button at the top right.

We’ll finish setting up OptinMonster back at your WordPress dashboard. Once there, you need to navigate to OptinMonster » Campaigns.

This will take you to your list of campaigns.

When you hover your mouse over the current campaign, some links will appear. To customize how your content locking will work, click on the Output Settings link.

The Automatic option is the simplest to set up. It will lock content automatically after a specified number of words or paragraphs. For example, you could lock all content after the first three paragraphs in each post.

The Manual setting requires a little more work but lets you choose exactly which content will be locked. You do this by adding a shortcode to each post that you wish to lock.

Start by copying the shortcode.

To add it to your content, you’ll need to edit the post or page where you want to enable content locking. Simply paste the shortcode just before the content you wish to lock.

Now you can save and publish your post or page.

If you’d like to see content locking in action, then simply visit the post or page in a new browser window.

The locked content is blurred or hidden.

Once they enter an email address, the locked content will be displayed.

Method 2: Add Content Locking with MemberPress

MemberPress is the best membership plugin for WordPress, and it can effectively lock your WordPress content. It’s the best choice when you want to make money by charging for premium content.

You will need at least a Basic plan for content locking. WPBeginner users can get up to 50% off by using this MemberPress coupon.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the MemberPress plugin. For more details, see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

On activation, you’ll have to enter your MemberPress license key. To do that, navigate to MemberPress » Activate and paste your key into the text box. You then need to click the Activate License Key button.

When you first set up your membership site, you’ll have to select up a payment method, decide on pricing, create a signup page, and more.

Check out our ultimate guide on how to create a WordPress membership site for all the details.

In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to use MemberPress to create a premium subscription and then determine which content can only be accessed after paying for a membership.

Let’s start by setting up a new membership plan for your subscribers. To create a membership level, you need to go to the MemberPress » Memberships page and click on the ‘Add New’ button at the top.

You’ll need to give the plan a name and decide on the cost of the content and the billing type.

We’ll create a one-time lifetime payment, but you could choose one of the regular subscription options.

After that, you need to scroll down to the membership options meta box below the post editor.

This is where you can customize permissions and membership options for this particular plan.

If you need more than one membership plan, then go ahead and repeat this process. When you’re finished, you can click on the Publish button on the left of the screen to make it available.

The next step is to select which content is available to each membership plan on your website. MemberPress makes it easy to control access using ‘Rules’.

You can set up your rules by visiting the MemberPress » Rules page and clicking on the Add New button at the top.

The rule edit page allows you to select different conditions and associate them to a membership plan.

For example, we’ll protect all content with the ‘premium’ tag so that it’s available only to members of the Premium plan.

Below the rules editor, you’ll see the content drip and expiration options. These let you release content gradually and make it unavailable after a period of time.

If you’d like all the content to be available as soon as they sign up, and remain available without expiring, then you should leave them unchecked.

Repeat the process to create more rules as needed for your membership site.

Once you are satisfied, go ahead and click on the ‘Save Rule’ button on the left to save your rule settings.

Now all we need to do is to add our locked content.

In our example, we’ll need to add the ‘premium’ tag to the posts we want only Premium members to be able to access.

Next, scroll down to the ‘MemberPress Unauthorized Access’ metabox below the post editor.

Here you can select what logged out users (non-members) will see when they reach this content.

You can see the content lock in action by visiting your WordPress site.

This is what someone who is not a premium member will see when navigating to a locked page on our demo site.

Premium members will be able to see the content when they log in to your WordPress site.

We hope this article helped you add content locking in WordPress. You may also want to learn the right way to create an email newsletter or check out our list of must have WordPress plugins to grow your site.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Add Content Locking in WordPress (2 Methods) appeared first on WPBeginner.

August 31, 2021 at 03:16PM